Serving Maya
by daydreamer3251
Summary: Sent to run an errand for Maya, Finch is forced to think about his true feelings for her.
1. PickUp Lines

"No, Dennis, that's enough. I don't want Trump to think I sound desperate for business."  
  
Sighing, Dennis Finch placed the writing paper back on Jack's desk. He glanced at the older man with raised eyebrows. "Do you want me to cancel the order of packaged prunes, then?"  
  
Jack shook his head. "If there's one thing that you don't understand, Dennis, it's prunes. Did I ever tell you about the time that I gave Eve a bad prune? She-"  
  
"I'm sure it's fascinating." Finch rolled his eyes and opened the door to let himself out, grinning at Jack's indignant look. He had worked for Blush for nine years, and no one could say that he wasn't a faithful assistant, but listening to Jack's stories about his ex-wives was hardly the way Finch wanted to spend his afternoon.  
  
His eyes moved across the office to where Maya was sitting, editing articles and pausing every now and then to push a strand of hair behind her ear and bite her lip in thought. He had no doubt that Maya was anything but a Gallo, but it was hard to see a resemblance to Jack. Finch was sure that she got her looks from Eve, but her personality?  
  
It was a subject that Finch tried to avoid. Jack had an intense dislike for most of his ex-wives, and he was quite sure that bringing up the subject would only result in a hour-long rant about the unfairness of the judicial system. He tore his eyes away from Maya, trying to think of something more interesting that the dysfunctional Gallo family.  
  
"Finch, do you know what happened to my answering machine?"  
  
Of course, there was always Nina. Tall, striking, and-at least in her day-gorgeous, she was the opposite of Maya in both looks and personality. "Mmm.I think Jack took it away with your 'orange juice' when you kept scaring the male models away with your messages."  
  
Nina groaned, an annoyed expression taking over her face. "Hey, I said 'press 1 if you're unmarried'. I don't control what they do!"  
  
Finch grinned. "Not unless 1 is the only option you give them."  
  
He smirked at her as she shot him a withering look and sauntered back to her office. Score one for Finch, he thought, pushing the four ceramic cats on his desk and looking around for his stapler.  
  
"God, Finch, don't you ever give it a rest?" Maya's voice startled him, full of amusement.  
  
He hadn't even noticed her get up, let alone realized that she was standing right next to him, her arms folded and a smile playing on her lips. He didn't understand what she meant. "Yeah.well.what do you want?"  
  
Damn. He usually had a response for her, but she had caught him off guard. Stupid Nina.  
  
She shrugged, rummaged through her purse, and pushed a dry cleaning receipt onto his desk. "My dad said he'd pick this up for me after work. I have a yoga class until six."  
  
Finch rolled his eyes. Yeah, I'm sure Jack will pick it up for her, him being such a loving father.oh, and this being poker night. "Great.what time do you want me to stop by?"  
  
Maya looked slightly confused, then shook her head. "No, Finch, you don't have to do it. My dad said that he'd-" She broke off and smiled, obviously realizing what she'd just said. "Oh. Around 6:15?"  
  
"Sure. You get home from yoga class, draw a bubble bath.and I stop by." He smiled lewdly at her, giggling as she rolled her eyes and turned to leave.  
  
"God, Finch." Doesn't he ever think about anything else? He's such a little."It's a blue dress, so don't forget, okay?"  
  
Finch grinned at her as she retreated to her office. "Great! I'll bring the dress, you bring the bath salts.it's a date!" He chuckled as she turned and stuck out her tongue, smiling slightly as she opened the door to her office. No, he'd been wrong. He knew she wasn't supermodel-beautiful like Nina had been, but still.she was pretty. What am I thinking? The sight of Jack's office door slightly ajar pushed Finch out of his daydream. I've never even thought about Maya that way before.  
  
He watched as she stumbled out of the copy room under a huge pile of papers, and he had the sudden urge to go and carry them for her. No, he'd never thought of being with Maya before, and he was certain she'd never had thoughts like that about him. He bit his tongue as he watched Elliott take the papers for her and appreciated her grateful smile; it was a smile that definitely wasn't-that never had been-meant for him. So why, all of a sudden, do I want it to be? 


	2. Dry Cleaning Delivery

    His head pounding from the salty smell of the dry cleaner's, Dennis pushed the receipt over the counter to the pretty Chinese girl standing there. "I'm here to pick up a blue dress." He glared as the girl raised her eyebrows in amusement. "Not for me, for my friend!"

    "Okay, okay." The girl chuckled slightly to herself and moved to the back of the store, returning in a minute with a silky blue dress hanging over her arm. "Is this the dress?"

    Finch glanced at the dress that she was holding. It was short and creamy blue, and for a minute his mind went blank. He nodded, trying to catch his breath. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess that must be it."

    The girl smiled knowingly at him, packaging the dress and putting the receipt into the cracked cash register. "Well, I'm sure your girlfriend will look very pretty in this."

    My girlfriend? Finch shook his head. "No, no, she's not my girlfriend. I'm just doing her a favor."

    The girl laughed, tossing her black hair as it caught the light. "Yeah, sure you are. And maybe she'll do you a 'favor' later."

    Finch grinned despite himself, picturing Maya's face if she ever heard the remark. The image of her smile flitted briefly in his mind, and he felt a tingle run through him. "I should go," he said quickly, grabbing the dress and trying desperately to clear his thoughts.

    "Maya?" Finch stood in front of her apartment door, a frustrated expression growing on his face. "Maya, it's Finch! Open the door!"

    The door opened a crack, and Maya's head poked through the gap, her hair wavy and wet around her face. She rolled her eyes and him. "Did your hand get sore from knocking, Finch?"

    Immediately she regretted what she'd said. She hadn't meant to make fun of him, not when he'd gone out of his way to do her a favor. He got enough of that at work. 

    "Sorry. Did you get the dress?" She smiled in relief as he handed it to her, noticing the slightly downcast look in his eyes. "Thanks, Finch. Do you want to come in?"

    He stepped warily into her apartment, stretching and grinning as he noticed the strains of music wafting in from the bedroom. "What is this, Madonna?"

    "Yeah." She shrugged, smiling. "I like her music, so what?"

    "Nothing." A devilish glint crept into his eye, and he grinned. "For mood music, I guess I'd recommend 'Justify My Love'." He giggled as he noticed a warm blush creeping up her face. Putting on a soft, seductive voice, he whispered, "I wanna kiss you in Paris—"

    "Finch!" Maya could feel her face getting warmer, and she bit her lip in embarrassment. It was just a song; why was she letting it get her so worked up? "If you think I would—"

    Finch held up his hands defensively, watching her closely. "Hey, no names, right? I just want to know who gets to see you in that little blue dress—heh heh—"

    Maya blushed again and sat down on the couch, wishing he would go away. "I have a date tomorrow, okay? So, what, you think I never date?"

    "Yeah, and if you wear that, that's not all you're gonna be doing." Finch immediately gritted his teeth, knowing she wouldn't appreciate that. "Sorry, Maya, I just—"

    Knowing that she was probably bright red, Maya looked at him angrily and gestured to the door. "Okay, Finch, you've overstayed your welcome. Please leave."

    For a minute, she thought she saw something like tears in Dennis' eyes, but she immediately shrugged it off. Finch was too insensitive to cry about hurting her feelings, even though he had apologized. God, just when she had been grateful for the favor, he had to go and revert to being twelve again. "Please, Dennis."

    "Fine. I wouldn't want to—" He cut himself off. He didn't want to hurt Maya's feelings; hell, the opposite, and now she was angry with him. "I really am sorry, though."

    He stared at her for a moment, wishing that her big, brown eyes were as soft as usual. "I hope you have fun," he muttered, and opened the door, his heart somewhere in his stomach.

    Maya looked after him with mixed emotions. Sure, he could be a jerk, but sometimes? "Finch, wait!" 

    Her voice carried down the hallway, but he was gone. 


	3. Morning Coffee

From across the office at Blush magazine, Maya Gallo regarded her coworker, biting her lip and wishing she didn't feel just so guilty about what had happened. Though annoying and strange some of the-well, most of the time, Finch had something that Maya could never put her finger on. When she was with him, it was always as if someone had pumped 1000 volts through her system. He positively glowed.  
  
"Hey, Space Ghost, you okay in there?"  
  
She glanced up to see Nina staring at her from the office door, holding a mug in one hand and displaying a worried expression. "I'm fine, Nina-I was just thinking."  
  
"Mmmm, I'd say you are. 'Thinking' in the way that you were staring directly at our second-grade friend over there." She grinned and shook her head, dropping into the chair in front of Maya's desk. "Ahh, young love."  
  
Maya felt a warm blush creep up her face, and she shook her head, trying to make Nina understand how she really felt. "I wasn't staring at him," she stuttered, gesturing to Nina's mug. "You've probably had a little too much of that this morning."  
  
"Hey, I swear to God, it's coffee!" Nina retorted, casually dumping the remains of the mug into the plant by Maya's door. "Oh, and if that plant dies, don't worry, it's not your fault."  
  
Maya chuckled and looked down at her desk, her eyes floating to the picture of her colleagues at the office Christmas party. Everyone's face was flushed with happiness and wine, and Finch's arm was tucked comfortably about her waste. She blushed again. "Don't think I didn't see that, missy." Nina raised her eyebrows. "You have a crush on Finch."  
  
"No!" A brief chuckle passed over Maya's lips as she saw Nina's disappointment. "I hurt his feelings last night, and I was just wishing I hadn't done that."  
  
Nina snorted and put her mug down on the desk, rolling her eyes at Maya. "Let me tell you, Maya, it doesn't take much to 'upset' Finch; the guy starts to cry if he misplaces a cat. If I were you, I'd just leave it alone." Standing up, her eye caught the downcast look on Maya's face, and a pleased smile crossed her face. "Unless, of course, you're distraught at having upset him."  
  
"Distraught; that's a big word. Did you get that from the word-of-the- day calendar, or does it just describe the senator's wife when you opened her door?"  
  
The sound of Finch's voice jolted Maya out of her thoughts, and she looked up to see him standing in the doorway, glaring at Nina. She watched as the older woman stood up and scoffed, tossing her black hair over her shoulder.  
  
"At least I can open the door, wimp," she said, and stalked out of the office. Maya glanced with embarrassment at Finch, feeling her face redden as she looked at his serious face. The eyes that had been so full of pain the night before...now they seemed devoid of any emotion at all. They were fixed on her with an intense gaze, and she found suddenly that she couldn't look away.  
  
He spoke first. "Look, I know you're wondering how to apologize, and I'm here to tell you that you don't have to. The comment I made last night was low-even for me, it was low-and I'm sorry that it upset you." He took a breath, looking as if he was surprised at his own words, and then smiled. "Besides, Nina's a witch, so I wanted to get one up on her."  
  
Maya found herself smiling despite herself. Knowing that her face was probably flaming, she nodded and gestured for Finch to sit down. "Thanks, Finch, and I-"  
  
"Hey!" Finch grinned. "I said no saying that!"  
  
"I know, but I-"  
  
Suddenly, a hand clapped over her mouth, and she could feel Finch's fingers over her lips, something that shocked her into almost choking on her coffee. "Mmphmp!"  
  
The devilish smile reappeared, and Finch removed his hand, giggling at the look on her flushed face. She didn't slap my hand away, he thought to himself in surprise, and she doesn't even look mad! He could feel himself reddening as a tingle passed through him, and he quickly turned away from her. Smiling to himself, he left her office, never seeing the soft brown eyes focusing on him from behind. 


End file.
